Gummi Worms for Breakfast
by Citizen Cane
Summary: Everyone's favorite Wombat enlists the help of Chi Park in order to stock his pantry.  Light-hearted Chark, because I can.


_(AN: This is just a quick bit of Chark that followed a spark of inspiration thanks to great conversation with a close friend. The concept of Chark is growing on the both of us and I decided to just have some fun. I'm an avid, loyal Wombat fan and I hope I do you others out there right. Please read and comment and review but most of all enjoy.)_

"There's nothing but junk food on this list." Park said in simple discovery, pushing her glasses up onto her face. "The human body can't survive off of this kind of diet."

"Oh, come on," Chase smiled at her and hooked the plastic basket on his arm. "It's just a couple comfort items."

Park chanced him a look of slight annoyance, unconvinced. Straightening the list, she cleared her throat and started reading out loud.

"Chocolate milk, Reese's Pieces, Scooter Pies, ice cream, Diet Coke…" Her brow rose when she looked up at him and Chase raised his hands in defense with a chuckle.

"Have to watch the figure." His accent broke surface, making it sound like 'fig-yah'.

"This list is completely ineffectual. There are no complex carbs, no lean protein, the fats aren't even healthy fats."

"Help me, then." Chase seemed to speak in a breathy laugh, simply watching Park for her reaction. To her surprise, he wasn't actually laughing _at_ her…more like at himself, for having such an obvious bachelor's list and just as apparent intentions.

"What, like…pick out groceries for you?" Park crinkled her nose a little, wary of where things were going. It seemed like too much of a setup but she also didn't think the Australian would ask her along just to pull a prank when the time could be just as easily spent chasing Adams.

"Maybe even help me cook something, since I'm so helpless."

Chase didn't know what had pushed him to ask Park along that evening. Grocery shopping was such a mundane task, he had been certain she'd chalk it up to his oft-times cruel sarcasm and ignore him for the rest of the day. She must have had a lot of fun over the few rounds of drinks they'd shared. Maybe it was a school girl crush, like a passing phase she'd grow out of. Still, he had to admit it was nice to have to interest without the usual pressure.

Chase had lived his life as someone with good looks who pretended as if they didn't know it, or at the least wouldn't acknowledge them as a factor in why and how things seemed to come their way. And it was like being part of some kind of secret club, where members dated members only and everyone was beautiful.

And Christ, were they all beautiful.

Each and every one, whether he remembered their names or not.

It wasn't enough, though.

Cameron was beautiful in her own plain way but it was her heart that drew him in more. She was deep, sensitive, and brilliant. He honestly had loved everything about her, especially the way she made him feel: worth something, worth more than the shiny hair and perfect smile. He could've lost the surfer's build to a little paunch within the first months of their marriage and she wouldn't have cared. Hell, maybe she would've loved him more.

Park already knew he was something of a jerk and she wasn't impressed by the square jaw and million-dollar smile. It was like letting out a deep exhale- the pressure to act and talk a certain way was gone.

Chase didn't have to pretend, anymore.

The truth of the matter was that beneath the surface, he was just a nerdy guy with a funny accent who was devastated over the end of his marriage, who missed making Star Wars references just to hear his wife groan, and who actually did need someone to take care of him and warn him that, yes, a bowlful of gummi worms for breakfast _will_ give you a stomachache.

And something in him (that he couldn't quite understand) said it would be all right if Chi Park found all of that out.

"Hey!" Park used the back of her hand to whip him lightly in the arm, her impatience bubbling just beneath the surface.

"Sorry, what?" He shook his head, almost embarrassed that he'd zoned out. He made a half-hearted attempt to snatch his list back. Park denied him and crumpled it with a clench of her first.

"I _said_…do you have any food allergies?" She quieted her tone and looked down at her shoes, shifting a little uncomfortably as she braced herself, expecting to be laughed at. "…if I'm going to cook for you, I need to know what to avoid."

"Strawberries."

She could hear the smile in his answer and saw it for herself when she mustered the courage to look at him. That she gave him one of her own was shocking and at first she didn't realize the laughter she heard, soft and genuine, was her own.

"You don't find that a little amusing?"

"…should I? It's a pretty serious allergy."

"Well, I mean…think about it."

Chase furrowed his brow, though his smile lingered. Park started to withdraw, bashfulness rising.

"N-nevermind."

"No, I want to hear the explanation. Come on, it's just us girls."

"Well…you're allergic to strawberries. Strawberries are an aphrodisiac…and, um…"

She spoke the rest of her sentence in one breath, feeling the heat flushing her cheeks.

"You're kind of a notorious manwhore."

If the Australian was offended he showed no sign of it, his smile holding, and the comfortable air about him didn't thin to prickly offput. After watching her fidget for a moment, Chase leaned in and down to be by her ear and summoned all the huskiness he could to his voice.

"…there's nothing stopping _you_ from eating them, though."

He made the mistake of giving her a slap on the bottom and she crushed his wrist in her small hand after moving to stop him, eyes glittering with a heated, focused, but all the same injured dignity.

"No. I suppose, technically speaking, there isn't any reason why I couldn't."

She let go of his wrist so she could run her palms along his arm, fingers stretching to weave themselves with his and she held his hand loosely, smirking.

"I _will_ punch you if you touch my bottom again, Robert."

He stood there looking at their hands with a fond but small smile on his lips and found it so nonchalant and natural that he made no move to take his hand away. Instead, he started on a brisk path for the produce section, playfully tugging her along.

"Strawberries are on sale I think, actually."


End file.
